Though “speaking music” is quite impossible, the most abstract of arts has nevertheless aroused the interest of many writers, among who Alberto Savinio and Massimo Bontempelli. Their writings on music, bundled in respectively Scatola sonora (1955) and Passione incompiuta (1958) clearly reflect their musical background and dedication. This paper aims at studying the rhetorical devices that Savinio and Bontempelli use to describe, to characterize and to suggest music. Thus, based on their texts a “rhetoric of hearing” can be constructed and at the same time compared to the traditional rhetoric, which is more based on visual perception.

@article{698194,
abstract = {Though {\textquotedblleft}speaking music{\textquotedblright} is quite impossible, the most abstract of arts has nevertheless aroused the interest of many writers, among who Alberto Savinio and Massimo Bontempelli. Their writings on music, bundled in respectively Scatola sonora (1955) and Passione incompiuta (1958) clearly reflect their musical background and dedication. This paper aims at studying the rhetorical devices that Savinio and Bontempelli use to describe, to characterize and to suggest music. Thus, based on their texts a {\textquotedblleft}rhetoric of hearing{\textquotedblright} can be constructed and at the same time compared to the traditional rhetoric, which is more based on visual perception.},
author = {Decombel, Sarah},
editor = {Giglio, Raffaele},
issn = {0390-0142},
journal = {Critica letteraria},
keyword = {Bontempelli,literature,rhetoric,music,criticism,Savinio},
language = {ita},
number = {2},
pages = {470--503},
publisher = {Loffredo},
title = {Per una retorica dell{\textquoteright}ascolto. Gli scritti sulla musica di Savinio e Bontempelli},
volume = {144},
year = {2009},
}